Allan McNish's hopes of becoming the first British sportscar world champion for 21 years received a boost in Fuji. Photograph: Steven Bloor/The Observer

Formula One has managed two especially controversial wet races at Fuji Speedway, the title clash in 1976 and its penultimate visit in 2007, but there were rightly to be no chances taken at the sixth round of the World Endurance Championship here on Sunday, which ran for 16 laps, all of them behind the safety car due to heavy rain. Anthony Davidson, driving a works Toyota, was firmly behind the decision not to race and, in contrast, critical of the Japanese Grand Prix in 2007, which he said should never have happened, describing the Formula One drivers of the time as being used as "pawns".

"In 2007 we had bad fog and then once that lifted a bit we were just left with really heavy rain," he said. "That meant more water on the track. It was way more slippery and there was a lot a more aquaplaning in 2007 than today. The circuit conditions were much, much worse."

Yet race they did, Davidson driving for Super Aguri at the time. "Formula One has more media push to make the show happen than we have in the World Endurance Championship," he said. "I still think the race should never have happened in 2007 but the show must go on and we were the pawns that had to continue the game."

Thankfully no similar pressure was exerted over this weekend. Two sets of eight laps were undertaken, each red-flagged when the weather worsened, before a final uncompleted lap was run during which the race was officially abandoned, four and a half hours after the start time and a huge disappointment for the fans who had thronged the circuit and stuck it out until the bitter end. As was also on show at Suzuka last week, the support for motor racing in Japan is not only immense but enthusiastic even in the face of driving and unending rain. Perhaps the spectators were the real winners of the endurance contest here.

There was, nonetheless, an actual race winner, the cars having completed the requisite two laps required to offer a result (even behind the safety car) with the Toyota No7 of Kazuki Nakajima, Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz declared victors. They had started in second but a problem with pick-up meant the pole-sitting No1 Audi R18 of André Lotterer, Benoît Treluyer and Marcel Fassler had to pit behind the safety car to deal with debris in the air box. This boosted the championship leaders Loïc Duval, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen into second and the Rebellion privateer prototype into third place.

Davidson in the other Toyota, which had been much closer to Audi than in recent races, giving him the chance for wheel-to-wheel racing, faced further disappointment. His No8 TS030, which was second on the grid, stopped for a final top-up of fuel before heading to the start line but tried to exit the pit lane five seconds too late and was forced to start from the pits, putting it to the back of the pack and a lap down. The weather then ensured there was no chance for a fight back to make up time.

Nonetheless there were no dissenting voices from drivers in relation to the decision not to race, particularly because the WEC field consists of prototypes down to pro and amateur classes of GT cars. "There are different cars of different speeds and closing speeds in a straight-line situation are hard enough in the dry, let alone in conditions where you can't see," said Davidson.

The race controllers, he believed, had therefore been correct. "They got it spot on," he said. "The will was there to race from the drivers and the stewards – and the FIA could see that everyone wanted to go racing. It's just that mother nature stepped in and didn't allow it to happen and we did the sensible thing by not racing. There was nothing you could do."

His fellow British driver McNish, whose second place was enough for his Audi team to clinch the manufacturers' title here, concurred. "I think it was the right decision," he said. "We want to race, we came here to race but sometimes it just becomes too risky. If you're at the front you have downforce but in the middle of the pack then it becomes impossible. It's like driving down the M1 at 150mph, with no wipers on, in traffic. You wouldn't do it."

Frustrating though it was for everyone involved, it has propelled McNish, Kristensen and Duval to within touching distance of the drivers' championship. Half points were awarded to all the drivers, which puts the trio 40.75 points ahead of the No1 Audi squad, with a possible 52 points available in the last two races. A finish of fourth or better at the penultimate round in China would make McNish the first British sportscar world champion since Derek Warwick in 1992.